1. Introduction

TinyButStrong is a PHP Template Engine which has special template syntax and allows you to design templates in their natural editing tools. But it normally works only for Text files, including XML and HTML.

With TinyButStrong and its plug-in OpenTBS, you can use the template engine to merge OpenOffice documents and Ms Office documents with lot of facilities. All OpenDocument Format (ODF) and Office Open XML (OOXML) can be merged with OpenTBS, and also XPS files (XPS is a PDF competitor provided by Microsoft). In fact, all zip archives containing Xml/Html/Text files can be merged with OpenTBS.

What is special to OpenTBS:

Design your templates directly with OpenOffice or MS Office.

No exe file needed to merge documents.

No temporary files needed to merge documents.

Output directly as an http download, a new file on the disk, or as a string (for file attachment for example).

Works with both PHP 4 and PHP 5.

No PHP extension is required (If the Zlib extension is enabled it becomes easier to use templates, see more detail below)

You should know Template Engines and more specifically TinyButStrong to use
OpenTBS.

Installation:

Just put the file "tbs_plugin_opentbs.php" with your PHP scripts.

3. Understanding principles

It is important to figure out that documents made with LibreOffice, OpenOffice and Ms Office (since version 2007) are technically zip archives containing XML files, even if the extension of the document is not ".zip". Those zip archives can contain other file types like pictures or sounds, but the document structure and the text contents are saved as XML files. The XML Synopsis summarizes the key entities of XML sub-files contained in LibreOffice, OpenOffice and Ms Office documents.

TinyButStrong can merge XML files, but cannot read zip archives by itself. The plug-in OpenTBS extends the TinyButStrong methods LoadTemplate() and Show() to make them working with zip archives. But you do not have to bother with it because OpenTBS is managing archives in a way that is quite invisible for you.

When the OpenTBS plugin is installed, the LoadTemplate() method becomes able to first load a zip archive (a LibreOffice, OpenOffice or Ms Office document), and then to load the contents of any XML or Text files stored in the archive. Then you can load an merge the contents of XML or Text files with all features of the TinyButStrong template engine. TBS can merge fields and blocks only for the current loaded sub-file, but OpenTBS make you very easy to manage sub-files and gives lot of facilities for special contents such as pictures, charts, ... . At the end, the Show() method does render the entire zip archive including modified stored files. The render can be done as an HTTP download, or a new file on the server's disk, or as a PHP string containg the binary of the result archive.

Since OpenTBS version 1.3, you can also add and delete files in the archive.

OpenTBS has automatic extension recognition. When you load a document which has one of the following extensions { odt, odg, ods, odf, odp, odm, docx, xlsx, pptx }, then the main XML file of the archive are automatically loaded, and some special character conversion are preset. For example, for all OpenDocument files, the stored file "content.xml" is automatically loaded.

Since version 1.6.0,
if the extension is not recognized then OpenTBS also try to find the document by the sub-file presence. And if all fails, then you can force the document type using a special command.

4. Synopsis and code examples

4.1. Preparation of TinyButStrong Template Engine with the OpenTBS plug-in

• Unload the current template, so the template file is no longer locked:

• Load a stored file from the current archive:

• Load an archive with special data conversion:

(supported since OpenTBS version 1.3.2)

$TBS->LoadTemplate('document.odt', OPENTBS_ALREADY_UTF8);

OpenTBS manages XML files that are UTF8 encoded. But by default, it assumes that all the data to merge (which can come from PHP or SQL) is Ascii encoded, and thus it performs conversions. If you want to define the data conversion, then you can use one of the following constants:

OPENTBS_DEFAULT: OpenTBS assumes that all data is ASCII encoded,

OPENTBS_ALREADY_UTF8: OpenTBS assumes that all data is already UTF8 encoded,

OPENTBS_ALREADY_XML: OpenTBS assumes that all data is already XML encoded, and thus it won't convert data at all. Take care of that option.

Please note that if
you need to change the data conversion for one or few fields only in your template, then you can use parameter "htmlconv" (see the TBS documentation for more details).

4.3. Method Show()

Render options for OpenTBS:

• Render the merged archive as an HTTP download: ($file_name is optional)

• Render the merged archive as a new file saved on the server's disk:

$TBS->Show(OPENTBS_FILE, $file_name);

• Render the merged archive as a PHP string:

(supported since OpenTBS version 1.1)

$TBS->Show(OPENTBS_STRING);
$string = $TBS->Source;

When you use OPENTBS_STRING then there is no output for the client. But instead, the binary source of the archive is placed into property $TBS->Source. This feature can be useful, for example, when you want to place the merged document into an email as an attached file.

4.4. Block alias

Block Alias are supported since OpenTBS version 1.8.0, they can work only with TBS 3.8.0 or higher.

The Block Alias are wrappers for defining TBS blocks on usual Libre Office and Ms Office entities. This helps to not referring directly to XML entities and to harmonize block definitions between types of documents.
For example: you can use block=tbs:row instead of block=table:table-row.

Some Block Alias, such as tbs:page and tbs:section, are also defining an entity that you cannot have with normal XML entities.

Block alias available according to the type of document :

Alias

Desciption

LibreOffice

Ms Office

Writer
(odt)

Calc
(ods)

Impress
(odp)

Word
(docx)

Excel
(xlsx)

PowerPoint
(pptx)

tbs:p

A paragraph.

yes

no

yes

yes

no

yes

tbs:title

A title.

yes

no

yes

yes

no

yes

tbs:section

A section of text.

yes

no

no

yes (*)

no

no

tbs:table

A table inserted in the document.

yes

a sheet

yes

yes

no

yes

tbs:row

A row of a table.

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

tbs:cell

A cell of a table.

yes

yes

yes

no

yes

yes

tbs:comment

A comment.

yes

yes

yes

no

no

no

tbs:page

A page defined by an explicit page break before a paragraph.(*)

yes

no

no

yes (*)

no

no

tbs:slide

A slide.

no

no

yes

no

no

no

tbs:sheet

A worksheet.

a table

yes

no

no

no

no

tbs:draw

A single draw, or set of draws (Ms Word)

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

tbs:drawgroup

A group of draws.

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

tbs:drawitem

A single draw item among a set of items.

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

tbs:listitem

An item of a bullet list.

yes

no

yes

yes

no

yes

Notes (*)

tbs:page in a DOCX: works with the two ways for defining a page break: (1) insert a section break doing a page break, or (2) use the paragraph property named page break before.

tbs:page in a DOCX: the TBS tag using the alias tbs:page must not be placed in the last paragraph of the page if it uses a section break doing a page break. This is a knowed bug. Instead, use the paragraph property named page break before, or move the TBS tag in another paragraph.

tbs:section in a DOCX: this alias points out avery kind of sections, including thoses defined with a section break doing a page break

4.5. Change or read data of series in a chart

• Change series in a chart:

(supported since OpenTBS version 1.6.0, for Ms Word and Ms Powerpoint, since version 1.8.0 for LibreOffice)

This command changes the values of a series in a Chart of the document. The chart will be automatically actualized when the merged document is opened because OpenTBS also breaks the link between the chart and its cached view. It can also delete or rename the series in the chart.

The result is true if the series is modified with success, otherwise the result is false.

Argument

Description

$ChartRef

The reference to find the chart. This value can be either:

The title of the chart (supported since OpenTBS 1.8.0). In both Ms Office and LibreOffice, that is the property "Title" of the frame that embeds the chart.

The order number of the chart in the document (first is number 1).

You can use the command OPENTBS_DEBUG_INFO in order to view all charts in the document that OpenTBS can manage.
You can use the command OPENTBS_CHART_INFO in order to read data in the chart.

Deprecated since version 1.8.0: in previous version, $ChartRef could be the internal name of the XML file that contains the chart definition, with or without the extension. Such as 'chart1'.

$SeriesNumOrName

Exact caption of the series in the chart, or its number (first is number 1). Typically 'Series 1' or 1.

$NewValues

The new data of the series. Must be an array, or value false if you want to delete the series.

A chart may have some values missing for one series and not for others. You can define a missing value for a category using PHP values null, 'NULL', false or '' (empty string).

Structure #3 is supported only for LibreOffice, and is required when the chart type is XY (Scatter), Bubble or Stock. Use 2 values in each items for XY, 3 for Bubble, and 4 for Stock.

Structure #1 is required for Ms Office when the chart type is XY (Scatter). Bubble and Stock are not yet supported for Ms Office.

$NewLegend

Optional. The new caption of the series.

Please note:

The type of the chart cannot be changed.

Some charts may not be recognized by this feature when the Word document is created with Word <= 2007 or is saved with a Compatibility Mode. You have to convert charts to have it work (right on the chart and choose "Convert"). You can use the command OPENTBS_DEBUG_INFO in order to view all unsupported charts in the document.

Charts in worksheets (Ms Office and LibreOffice) are not supported. This is because such charts are linked to cells.

With Ms Office, the chart must not be linked to external data (such as an Excel worksheet). Otherwise the chart will be automatically actualized back the previous values when it will be opened.

With Ms Office, the visual Data Editor becomes unavailable on a merged chart. If you set property $TBS->OtbsDeleteObsoleteChartData = false then the Data Editor of Ms Office can be opened but it displays only previous values, which may be quite confusing. This property is supported since OpenTBS version 1.9.5, before that the visual Data Editor could be opened but displayed only previous data.

4.6. Change pictures in the document

• Change an internal picture with a new one:

(supported since OpenTBS version 1.4.0, for OpenOffice and MsOffice documents only)

Example: [onshow.x;ope=changepic]

In the example above, $x is a PHP global variable containing the name of an external picture file (relative or absolute path). Of course you can use this feature on TBS fields merged with MergeBlock().

When a TBS field having "ope=changepic" is merged in the template, then OpenTBS will search the first picture located before the field (see parameter tagpos below for another position), and then it will change the picture assuming that the value of the field is the path for a picture file on the server. You don't have to care about loading the picture file in the document, OpenTBS will manage this for you.

Note that parameter "ope=changepic" is a feature provided by the OpenTBS plug-in, which extends the "ope" parameter natively present with TBS.

Instead of change a picture with a TBS tag, you can also do it manually at the PHP side using the command OPENTBS_CHANGE_PICTURE.

Note that since OpenTBS version 1.8.0, you can change picture in Ms Excel worksheet. You must put the TBS field inside the picture description and use parameter "tagpos=inside". Before this version it was not possible to change pictures in an Ms Excel worksheet.

In order to
simplify your coding, they are other complementary optional parameters:

Parameter

Description

tagpos

Supported values are "after", "before" and "inside". This option indicates the position of the TBS tag relativelly to the target picture.
The default value is "after", it means that the TBS tag (the one with "ope=changepic") must be placed after the picture.

You can use "tagpos=inside" when you put the TBS field in the Description or Title of the image (LibreOffice/OpenOffice or Ms Office).

This option won't work if you put the TBS tag inside the property Name of an image in LibreOffice/OpenOffice.

In Ms Word 2007, property Description and Title are supported but not available for editing, but you can use "Alternative text" (in the "Web" tab of the Size dialog box) , ot the URL, or the Toolipt of a Link on the image.

In Ms Excel, you must use "tagpos=inside" because pictures are not saved in the sheet, they are not positioned relativelly to cells.

Parameter tagpos is supported since OpenTBS version 1.8.0. Previsouly the TBS tag had to be placed after the picture.

adjust

Adjust the size of the picture in the document. This parameter requires that PHP is configured with the GD extension, which is usually the case.

Values can be on of the followings:

adjust (or adjust=inside)

The picture is adjusted to enter into the picture bounds of the template.

adjust=samewidth

The picture is adjusted to have the same width than the picture of the template.

adjust=sameheigth

The picture is adjusted to have the same height than the picture of the template.

adjust=100% (or
another pourcentage)

The picture is adjusted to be proportional to the originial size.

Parameter adjust is supported since OpenTBS version 1.7.0.

unique

Indocate to OpenTBS that the original picture is unique in the template and can be deleted. This actually saves size of the final document.
The value of argument unique can be omitted. If the value is 1 or ommited, then the original picture is deleted from the template.

If the original picture is in fact displayed somewhere else in the template, that may produce a missing picture.

Parameter unique is supported since OpenTBS version 1.9.1.

from

This option reformulates the path of the new picture to insert. The parameter's value can contain the [val] keyword or any [var] fields, they work the same way as with parameter "file".

Example: [onshow.x;ope=changepic;from='../pic/[val].gif']

as

This option reformulates the name of the picture that it will take inside the document. It is rare to need it, but it can help in some cases. Note that the external picture file is not renamed. The new name must be defined without path.
The parameter's value can contain the [val] keyword or any [var] fields, they work the same way as with parameter "file".

Example: [onshow.x;ope=changepic;as='[val].gif']

default

This option defines the picture that should be used when the expected one is not found. The parameter's value must be the path of a file on the server, or the keyword "current".
If the value is "current" then OpenTBS will let the current picture of the template if the new picture is not found.

Since OpenTBS version 1.8.0 the default value is "current". In prior versions, there was no default value and an OpenTBS error message was prompted if the new image was not found.

4.7. Merging data in spreadsheet cells

In speaksheets (Ms Excel or LibreOffice Calc), cells values may be formated but also typed. For example, a cell value may be typed as String, Numerical, Boolean or Date.

Unfortunately, as soon as you enter a TBS tag in a cell, the cell it is typed as String by the software. This may not be corresponding to the final value you wanted after the merging.

For those situations, TBS offers a parameter like "ope=cellType". The cell type will be changed during the merging and the merged value will be implicitly converted by TBS to fit to the expected type.

Example:

[onload.x;ope=tbs:num] => will turn the cell as Numerical after $x is merged.

Parameters for merging data in spreadsheet cells:

Expected Cell Type

Parameter

Note

Number

ope=tbs:num

Boolean

ope=tbs:bool

Date/time

ope=tbs:date

Time only

ope=tbs:time

For XLSX, it's an alias of ope=tbs:date

Currency

ope=tbs:curr

For XLSX, it's an alias of ope=tbs:num

Percentage

ope=tbs:percent

For XLSX, it's an alias of ope=tbs:num

The keywoks in the table above are supported since OpenTBS version 1.8.1.

In previous version you should use keywords: odsNum, odsBool, odsDate, odsTime, odsCurr, odsPercent, xlsxNum, xlsxBool and xlsxDate.

4.8. Delete or merge columns in a table

Delete columns in a table

Parameter "ope=delcol" enables you to delete the columns you want in any table of an Ms Word Document or any LibreOffice document.

Limitations: Parameter "ope=delcol" will produce a wrong result if there is any cell with a merged style before of within the columns to delete using OpenTBS.

You have to put a TBS field anywhere inside the table with the following parameters:

ope=delcol

colnum = the column numbers to delete, separated with commas (first column is number 1). An empty value makes no column to be deleted. A column number of zero or negative is ignored.

colshift = (optional) if parameter "colnum" has only one value then "colshift" extends the number of columns to delete to the left or to the right.

Both parameters "colnum" and "colshift" can contain [val] and [var] fields. Unfortunaltely parameter "ope" is processed before parametre "if", so the merged value must be directly the colums to delete.

When the TBS field with parameter "ope=delcol" is merged, the specified columns will be deleted and the TBS field is erased.

Change one or several pictures in the current sub-file. This command does the same as the changepic feature. The difference is that the command needs no TBS tags in the template.

$PicRef must be a string that is saved in the Title or the Description of the picture. If several pictures have the same key string then they are all replaced with the picture. It won't work if you put the string reference tag inside the property Name of an image in LibreOffice/OpenOffice. In Ms Word 2007, both properties Description and Title are supported but not available for editing, but you can use "Alternative text" (in the "Web" tab of the Size dialog box) , ot the URL, or the Toolipt of a Link on the image.

$File must be path for picture file that will be copied inside the document.

$Prms can be an associated array of parameters supported by parameter changepic.

Command OPENTBS_CHANGE_PICTURE is supported since OpenTBS version 1.8.0.
Parameter $Prms is supported since version 1.9.1.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DELETE_COMMENTS)

Delete all usual user comments in the opened template.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DELETE_ELEMENTS, $Elements)

Delete XML elements in the current sub-file.

$Elements must be an array of strings.

For example: $Elements = array('w:bookmarkStart', 'w:bookmarkEnd') This will delete all bookmarks in an Ms Word document.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_ADD_CREDIT, $Text [, $Name])

Add a new credit text in the properties of the document.

For LibreOffice/OpenOffice, this will add the text as a new Custom Property of the document. You can use argument $Name for the custom property's name.

For Ms Office, this will add the text in the Author property of the document. You can use argument $Name to specify another XML element for placing the text. Exemple : 'dc:description' will add the text in the Comment property. Take care that using an unsupported value can corrupt the document.

Command OPENTBS_ADD_CREDIT is supported since OpenTBS version 1.9.1.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_SYSTEM_CREDIT, $Enable)

Enable or disable the System Credit. System Credit add the current version of OpenTBS into a creator property of the document. The System Credit is enabled by default.

Command OPENTBS_SYSTEM_CREDIT is supported since OpenTBS version 1.9.1.

Select the sub-file corresponding to the header of the footer. Return true if succeed, false if it fails.

This command is useless for LibreOffice/OpenOffice because all headers and footers are saved in the main sub-file. Nevertheless using it will select the main sub-file without raising an error.

Those commands do not work for XLSX or PPTX since headers and footers are saved in each sheet or slide. The command will return false.

$Type must be one of the following values (default is OPENTBS_DEFAULT):

OPENTBS_DEFAULT : select the default header or footer for pages in the document.

OPENTBS_FIRST : select the special header or footer reserved for the first page in the document.

OPENTBS_EVEN : select the special header of footer reserved for even pages in the document.

$Offset can help when they are different headers and footers of the same type defined in the document. A document can have several sections and each section can have its own header and footer. But they can also have headers and footers linked to another section. Such that a document can have several headers and footers of the same type in a single document. Use the argument $Offset in order to select other one. Default value is 0.

Command OPENTBS_SELECT_HEADER and OPENTBS_SELECT_FOOTER are supported since OpenTBS version 1.9.0.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_GET_HEADERS_FOOTERS)

Return an array of all sub-file corresponding to any header and footer in the document.

Command OPENTBS_GET_HEADERS_FOOTERS is supported since OpenTBS version 1.9.0.

For workbooks (ODS and XLSX)

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_SELECT_SHEET, $NumOrName [, $ById])

Select the sub-file corresponding to $NumOrName. This command will raise an error if the opened template is not an expected document.

This command is useless for LibreOffice/OpenOffice because all sheets/slides are all saved in the main sub-file. Nevertheless using it will select the main sub-file without raising an error.

$NumOrName is an identifier that can be
either an integer corresponding to the number of the sheet in the sheet list (first is number 1), or a string corresponding to the name of the sheet.

Use command $TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DEBUG_INFO) to list all id and name of sheets/slides in the current document.

$ById is false by default, set it to true if you want to select the sheet by its internal ID instead of its number in the sheet list. This can be used for compatibility with previous OpenTBS vesions (see version history below).

Command OPENTBS_SELECT_SLIDE is supported since OpenTBS version 1.8.0.
Argument $ById is supported since OpenTBS version 1.9.6.
Before OpenTBS version 1.9.6, the sheet was not find by its number in the sheet list but only by its internal id, which may be different.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DISPLAY_SHEETS, $NumOrNames[, $Visible])

Make one or several sheets/slides visible or hidden. This command will raise an error if the opened template is not an expected document.

$NumOrNames must be an array of identifiers, or even a single identifier. See command OPENTBS_SELECT_SHEET for more details about identifiers.

$Visible must be a boolean, default value is true.

Command OPENTBS_DISPLAY_SLIDES is supported since OpenTBS version 1.8.0.Before OpenTBS version 1.9.6, the sheet was not selected by its number in the sheet list but only by its internal id, which may be different.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DELETE_SHEETS, $NumOrNames[, $Delete])

Make one or several sheets te be deleted or not.
This command will raise an error if the opened template is not a Workbook.

$NumOrNames must be an array of identifiers, or even a single identifier. See command OPENTBS_SELECT_SHEET for more details about identifiers.

$Delete must be a boolean, default value is true.

Please note that for now, you must not delete a sheet that contains a Pivot Table in a XLSX workbook because this will produce an error when the workbook is opened.

Command OPENTBS_DELETE_SLIDES is supported since OpenTBS version 1.8.0.Before OpenTBS version 1.9.6, the sheet was not find by its number in the sheet list but only by its internal id, which may be different.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_COUNT_SHEETS)

Return the number of sheets in the workbook. Always return 0 if the document is neither an XLSX nor an ODS.

Command OPENTBS_COUNT_SHEETS is supported since OpenTBS version 1.9.1.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_MERGE_SPECIAL_ITEMS)

Merge special items relatively to the current sub-file. For now, it only works with Ms Excel workbooks. This command makes automatic fields ([onload] and [onshow]) merged in pictures embedded in the current selected sheet. This can be useful for changing pictures in Ms Excel.

Command OPENTBS_MERGE_SPECIAL_ITEMS is supported since OpenTBS version 1.8.0.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_RELATIVE_CELLS, $Enabled[, $Options])

This command may significatively optimize time generation for XLSX workbooks that contains sheets with large numerous rows. By default the Ms Excel software saves sheets with explicit cells positioning, and OpenTBS has the same behavior by default. This operation may be quite slowing OpenTBS for sheets with large numerous rows. In another hand saving sheets with relative cells positioning is quite faster and the final file may be smaller. Use this command in order to define the saving behavior about cells.

$Enabled set to true in order to activate the relative cells positioning for the current sheet only.

$Options set to OPENTBS_ALL in order to apply the command to all sheets in the current workbook.

This command has no effects for other documents type than XLSX workbooks.

Command OPENTBS_RELATIVE_CELLS is supported since OpenTBS version 1.9.2.

• Reset all modifications in the archive:

The automatic extension recognition is also applied as it was applied for the first load of the archive.

4.12. Miscellaneous

Dealing with apostrophes:

Both OpenOffice and Ms Office may automatically convert single quotes (') into typographic apostrophes (’), depending to the auto-correction options. This may be annoying when you need to code a TBS fields that have a single quote. That's why OpenTBS automatically convert by default all (’) back to single quotes (') in documents.
If you want to stop this conversion, you can set $TBS->OtbsConvertApostrophes = false; and no apostrophes will be converted. Note that you can avoid the auto-correction of single quotes (') in Ms Word using keys[ctrl]+[z], and in OpenOffice using the cancel button.

Property OtbsConvertApostrophes is supported since OpenTBS version 1.6.0.

• Forcing the document type recognition:

You can force the document type recognition using command OPENTBS_FORCE_DOCTYPE. Example:

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_FORCE_DOCTYPE, 'docx');

This command is supported since OpenTBS version 1.6.0.

• Retrieving the name of the current document:

Property $TBS->tbsCurrFile indicates the name of the current file loaded from the archive. The value is false if no file is loaded yet from the archive.

Other TinyButStrong methods and properties stay unchanged and are available for merging your template.

(supported since OpenTBS version 1.1)

5. Demo

The OpenTBS package includes a full set of runnable templates. Some templates can contain useful complementary information for designing.
Run the following demo under PHP: OpenTBS demo

6. Debugging your template

Since OpenTBS version 1.6.0, there are several commands for debugging. Please note that those commands do not exit the process.

Command

Desciption

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DEBUG_INFO [, $Exit])

Display technical information about the current loaded template, including sheet information if the template is a workbook, and chart information if the template have some.$Exit must be a boolean, default value is true.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DEBUG_XML_CURRENT [, $Exit])

Display XML contents of sub-files already opened and modified for merging. XML is indented in order to improve reading.$Exit must be a boolean, default value is true.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DEBUG_XML_SHOW)

Ends the merge process as if the final document was created. But instead of creating the document, displays
the XML contents of sub-files modified for merging. XML is indented in order to improve reading.

There is also deprecated debug options:

Command

Desciption

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DEBUG_XML)

Does the same as $TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DEBUG_XML_SHOW);Supported since OpenTBS version 1.3.2.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DEBUG_XML+OPENTBS_DEBUG_AVOIDAUTOFIELDS)

Avoid merging of [onload], [onshow] and [var].Supported since OpenTBS version 1.3.2.

$TBS->Render = OPENTBS_DEBUG_AVOIDAUTOFIELDS;

Work also in property Render.Supported since OpenTBS version 1.3.2.

$TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DEBUG_CHART_LIST)

Does the same as $TBS->PlugIn(OPENTBS_DEBUG_INFO);Supported since OpenTBS version 1.6.0.

Otherwise, here are some indications that may help for the issues you can met with merging:

a) The merged document is producing error messages when opened with its application (OpenOffice or Ms Office)

The most likely causes are:

• You've chosen the OPENTBS_DOWNLOAD render option but a php error message or any other unexpected content has been output before by PHP.

Activate the debug mode using the command OPENTBS_DEBUG_XML_SHOW, it helps to check PHP error message and other unexpected content.

• The merging has produced an invalid document or an invalid XML content in an XML file of the document.

Activate the debug mode using it helps to check the XML contents of merged files.

See section (b) below for more information in the XML structure of the files.

b) Some TBS tags are not merged

First be sure that the TBS tag is a in a part of the document which is loaded and selected. Since a sub-file is loaded, automatic block ([onload] and [onshow]) will be merged. And you need to have the sub-file selected in order to use MergeBlock() and MergeField() on it. See commands like OPENTBS_SELECT_*. For example, in Ms Word , header and footers are loaded, and the main document is loaded and selected, but your need to select back a header part in order to use MergeBlock() on it.

Then, it may happens that a TBS tag seems uniformly formatted, while in fact the inner XML is split because of small difference in format, small different spelling information, or other... In order to avoid inner split, you can select the TBS tags, then cut it, and then paste it back without formatting. It is “Paste special / Unformatted text” in LibreOffice, or “Paste / Keep Text Only” is Ms Office.

For MS Word, you can also use “OpenTBS plug-in for Microsoft Word”, which is given with the standard OpenTBS package. This plug-in gives a tag cleaner tool.

c) The merged document is well opened by its application (OpenOffice or Ms Office) but the content is not designed as expected

First, you can have a look the demo templates, they contain examples and advices for each type of document.

And to go further: even if you can edit your template using directly OpenOffice or Ms Office, you will probably need to understand the XML tags and attributes to complete your merge. The file xml_synopsis.txt is a small synopsis of the XML structure you can found in the inner source of those documents. Have a look to it if you feel lost.

d) Go deeper in the debugging

You can view the inner source of a document using a zip software like 7-Zip. It allows you to open an archive even if the extension is not ".zip".

Open the merged document with 7-Zip (or your other zip software),

extract the main XML file (or another file that you've merged),

then open the XML file in an Text Editor software.

those XML files are usually saved with no line breaks, which make them hard to be read. Some Text Editors can reformat them. You can also use the debug mode to see the formatted XML.

check the structure of the XMK, try some fix and arrangements, deleted suspicious parts, ...

put the modified XML file back to the archive, and test if it's correctly opened with its application (OpenOffice, Ms Office)

7. What to do if Zlib extension is not enabled with PHP?

OpenTBS uses Zlib functions in order to automatically uncompress and recompress files stored in the zip archive. If Zlib is not enabled, then you have to use your own uncompress/compress tool, or to prepare the template to have files uncompressed in the zip archive.

Example to uncompress the "content.xml" file in an ODT document using 7-Zip:

open the ODT file with 7-Zip,

extract the "content.xml" file from the ODT file in the same folder than the ODT file,

close 7-Zip,

open 7-Zip, and change current directory to be the same as the ODT file

select the
"content.xml" file and click on button [Add], or menu [File][7-Zip][Add to archive...],

a new window named "Add to archive" is opened,

replace the archive name with the ODT file name,

set the Compression level to "None",

click on [Ok].

If you re-open the ODT file with 7-Zip, you can notice that the size and the uncompressed size are the same.
If the file should be placed in a sub-folder of the archive, then open the archive and rename the file in order to move it in a folder. For example rename "manifest.xml" to "META-INF\manifest.xml" will move it into META-INF. But moving the file will no delete the one which has the same name in the target folder. You have to go and delete the old one.

8. Changelog

version 1.9.7, on 2016-08-16

New features

New command OPENTBS_GET_FILES

Bug fixes

Parameter "ope=delcol": if parameter "colnum" is empty then first colmun is deleted while it should be no column.

Command OPENTBS_CHART: error message « Name of the series not found. » when the series contains special characters, like accents.

version 1.9.6, on 2016-03-24

Bug fixes

Some commands used to find a worksheet by its internal id instead of its number in the worksheet list. Now they all search by number in the worksheet list.Please not that you may have to change your code if you are using those command with the number if the sheet rather of the name of the sheet.
Concerned commands are:

OPENTBS_SELECT_SHEET

OPENTBS_DELETE_SHEET

OPENTBS_DISPLAY_SHEETS

Merging text with line-breaks in a DOCX was not displayed correctly in LibreOffice.

Enhancements

DOCX: Some special merging of enhanced graphical objects (like merging fill color in a shape) may corrupt the document because they are stored in several ways by Ms Word.

The XML synopsis in now available in HTML.

version 1.9.5, on 2016-02-09

New features

New command OPENTBS_EDIT_ENTITY

New command OPENTBS_CHART_INFO

$TBS->LoadTemplate(false) does close the current template so the template file is no longer locked.

Enhancements

New features

version 1.9.1, on 2014-09-20

New features

New parameter "unique" for replacing all instances of the picture and save space.

New command OPENTBS_COUNT_SHEETS.

New command OPENTBS_ADD_CREDIT.

New command OPENTBS_SYSTEM_CREDIT.

ODS files are now recognized. It is equivalent to ODS.

Enhancements

OPENTBS_CHANGE_PICTURE now use an array of parameters.

Bug fixes

Adjusting size of image in docx.

When turn a sheet to hidden in an XLSX, then the document may be corrupted.

Command OPENTBS_COUNT_SLIDES did not work for ODP.

A PPTX can be corrupted when opening a template which is a previous result of a merge. This is because an <a:r> must contain at least one <a:t>.

Merging several XLSX with the same OpenTBS instance can produce erroneous merged cells.

version 1.9.0, on 2014-04-10

New features

new command OPENTBS_SELECT_FILE

new command OPENTBS_SELECT_HEADER

new command OPENTBS_SELECT_FOOTER

new command OPENTBS_GET_HEADERS_FOOTERS

new command OPENTBS_SEARCH_IN_SLIDES

new parameter $Master for command OPENTBS_SELECT_SLIDE and OPENTBS_COUNT_SLIDES

Enhancements

Debug mode available even if no template is loaded.

Debug mode display the Zlib availability.

Based on TbsZip 2.16

Bug fixes

Corrupted MS Office files when inserting images named with space or accent.

XLSX warning for corrupted subfile "/xl/calcChain.xml-Part".

Some ODS templates compatible with Ms Excel can
become erroneous for Ms Excel after the merge with OpenTBS. Message "The workbook cannot be opened or repaired by Microsoft Excel because it is corrupt".

Some XLSX templates built with LibreOffice
can be very long to be opened with OpenTBS. That is because LibreOffice add some extra useless rows definition at the bottom limit of the
sheets.

A big number merged in a XLSX with parameter "ope=tbs:num" can display another value.
Example : 7580563123 displays -1009371469 in 32bits.

Inappropriate error message "ExtType is not defined" when execute a command but no template is loaded.

OPTBS_SELECT_SHEET with an ODS template do nothing. Now it selects the main file (contains all sheets).

OPTBS_SELECT_SLIDE with an ODP template do nothing. Now it selects the main file (contains all slides).

version 1.8.3, on 2014-02-02

fixed bug: (since version 1.8.0) the changed picture is another picture in the document or an empty picture. This could happen if you used parameter "changepic" with both [onload] and [onshow] or both MergeBlock() and [onshow].

version 1.8.2, on 2014-01-26

fixed bug: some TBS fields seems to be ignored in ODT files edited with LibreOffice 4 or higher. This was due to a new RSID feature in LibreOffice that inserts invisible XML elements.

fixed bug: no data displayed when merging numerical cells in ODS files built with LibreOffice 4 or higher. This was due to a new attribute in subjacent XML elements.

Supports new parameter "parallel" of TinyButStrong 3.9.0.

based on TbsZip 2.15

version 1.8.1, on 2013-08-30

new feature: the loaded template can be a PHP file handle.

enhancement: Ms Excel Sheets are now saved with explicit references for rows and cells, so merged templates are viewable with Libre Office and other third viewers.

enhancement: keywords for changing cell types is the same for LibreOffice and Ms Office.

fixed bug: A DOCX file could be corrupted when using "block=tbs:page" and the last paragraph of the document has no text.

based on TbsZip 2.14

version 1.8.0, on 2013-05-04

new feature: automatically cleans up spelling in PPTX templates (such information may
deconstruct the TBS tags). This feature can be disabled.

version 1.7.4, on 2011-10-20

parameter "defaut=current" does not work and may build invalid documents when the target image is missing.

new command OPENTBS_REPLACEFILE

new command OPENTBS_FILEEXISTS

version 1.7.3, on 2011-10-13

fixed bug: in Ms Word documents, automatic fields (onload, onshow) placed in headers and footers with parameter "ope=changepic" are producing an erroneous merge. In Word 2010 the picture may by missing, in Word 2007 the docx file may be considered as corrupted.

version 1.7.2, on 2011-10-12

fixed bug: error when using command OPENTBS_SELECT_SHEET with a sheet name: Notice: Undefined index: xxx in xxx on line 1986.

version 1.7.1, on 2011-10-07

fixed bug: first non-empty cell of an Excel Spreadsheet is never merged if it contains a TBS field.

minor internal improvements.

version 1.7.0, on 2011-08-21

new parameter 'adjust' for changing picture size

new command OPENTBS_DEBUG_INFO

new command OPENTBS_SELECT_MAIN

new command OPENTBS_SELECT_SHEET

new command OPENTBS_DISPLAY_SHEETS

new command OPENTBS_DELETE_SHEETS

new command OPENTBS_DELETE_COMMENTS

new command OPENTBS_DELETE_ELEMENTS

parameter 'changepic' is optimized

version 1.6.2, on 2011-07-12

fixed bug: Ms Excel cells could consider as error some formatted values such as '0.00000000000000'.

version 1.6.1, on 2011-06-08

fixed bug: some documents may be corrupted when created using OPENTBS_DOWNLOAD because of a PHP error "supplied argument is not a valid stream resource" or "Undefined property: clsOpenTBS::$OutputHandle".

fixed bug: using keyword "xlsxNum", "xlsxDate" or "xlsxBool" inside a cell that is not merged can make a corrupted XLSX spreadsheet.

improvement: updated templates in the demo.

based on a TbsZip v2.8

version 1.6.0, on 2011-06-07

new feature: merge charts in Ms Word documents.

new feature: merge rows and columns Ms Excel workbooks.

new feature: new "ope" parameters for forcing cells type in Ms Excel (Numeric, Date and Boolean).

new feature: debug mode enhanced.

new feature: force the type of document using command OPENTBS_FORCE_DOCTYPE.

new property: deal with apostrophes using property OtbsConvertApostrophes.

improvement: if the document extension is not recognized, then try to recognize document type by sub-file presence.

improvement: can use the Direct Command feature of TBS 3.7.0.

based on a TbsZip v2.6

version 1.5.0, on 2011-03-20

new feature: headers and footers are automatically loaded for OpenOffice & MsOffice.

new feature: automatically cleans up spelling and change trackings information in MsWord templates (such information may
deconstruct the TBS tags). This feature can be disabled.

new constant OPENTBS_DEBUG_AVOIDAUTOFIELDS

improvement: Debug doesn't stopped if an OpenTBS alert occurs.

improvement: OpenTBS alerts say if the process will be stopped.

fixed bug: in debug mode: "warning function.str-repeat: Second argument has to be greater than or equal to 0"

fixed bug: when using OPENTBS_RESET: "Warning: Missing argument 2 for clsOpenTBS::OnCommand() in ... on line 225"

fixed bug: DML images were not found when using parameter "ope=changepic" in a DOCX document

fixed bug: the script ends and display the XML contents when a when using parameter "ope=changepic" with a new image type in a DOCX document

version 1.4.1, on 2010-10-28

major bug fixed: due to TbsZip, some added or modified files can be saved the document with a wrong CRC control code. This could make softwares to consider the document as corrupted, but were often easily fixed by OpenOffice and Ms Office. Only few CRC codes are wrongly saved, thus the bug is rare and can seem to appear randomly on few documents.

version 1.4.0, on 2010-10-05

new parameters "changepic" and "default"

version 1.3.3, on 2010-08-05

property version of OpenTBS version 1.3.2 was saying 1.3.1

version 1.3.2, on 2010-07-23

possibility to change de default data conversion using the new constants OPENTBS_DEFAULT, OPENTBS_ALREADY_XML or OPENTBS_ALREADY_UTF8